New Nematicide Boasts Novel Mode Of Action
August 12, 2013 
MANA, Makhteshim-Agan of North America, unveiled a new nematicide Thursday at a conference in California’s San Joaquin Valley that had entomologists and pest control advisers buzzing with questions.
Introduced as a new formulation that utilizes a new strategy to kill nematodes, MANA’s product manager for the new material, recently named Nimitz, said it will be the company’s flagship product.
“This is a big change, almost a birth process,” said Herb Young. “For us — you can’t imagine the excitement behind it.”
Nimitz, or fluensulfone, is different in that it’s not a fumigant, it is simply applied and then incorporated into the soil. Its signal word is not “danger” nor even “warning,” noted Young, merely “caution.” While other nematicides might have a re-entry period of five days, for Nimitz it is just 12 hours. However, while relatively soft for farm workers and others, he said, it is lethal to nematodes.
Another speaker at the program, held at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, CA, supported Young’s contention. Becky Westerdahl, a University of California Cooperative Extension nematode specialist, said she’s trialed a lot of the new nematicides that have come along in recent years, and they weren’t nearly as effective as Nimitz.
“It’s kind of nice for me to work with a product that actually kills nematodes,” she said, adding that it performed more like traditional materials. “Each trial we looked at, the Interra was right up there with your standard nematicides.”
Westerdahl urged the PCAs in the crowd to give the new product a try and see how it works for them. She thought they would be pleased with the results, because she has found the product works on all stages of nematodes, from eggs to adults. “It’s always performed,” said Westerdahl, who has been working with it for three years. “It hasn’t been erratic like the other products I have tested.”
A decision by the EPA on registration of Interra is expected in December, with concurrent registration in California. However, Young emphasized that even if all goes well there will only be a very limited supply in 2014. Makhteshim-Agan is currently building a new facility at its headquarters in Israel, where it will be manufactured.
The initial registration will be for such crops as fruiting vegetables of the Solanaceae family like tomato and pepper, as well as vegetables from the cucurbit family such as cucumber, pumpkin, squash, and various melons.
Nimitz is expected to be available on other vegetables, such as lettuce and other leafy vegetables, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots — as well as strawberries — in a few years. Many other tree and vine crops, such pome and stone fruits, nuts, citrus, and grapes, would also be included in that second tier of registration.
To demonstrate how welcome Nimitz would be to growers, Young asked those in the crowd to call out the qualities of their “perfect nematicide.” They responded:
■ No buffers
■ Instant replanting
■ Using on established tree fruit
■ Being able to re-treat
■ Less restrictions on use
■ Better worker safety — lower risk
■ Longer residual control
■ Long shelf-life
At one of the tables, one young PCA whispered with a broad smile: “Can they make it cheap, too?”
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